


Keep Moving

by Hathaway01



Category: Lewis (TV)
Genre: Community: lewis_challenge, Friendship, Gen, International Fanworks Day 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-13
Updated: 2015-02-13
Packaged: 2018-03-12 06:39:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3347285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hathaway01/pseuds/Hathaway01
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Robbie ponders his life after Val.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Keep Moving

**Author's Note:**

> This was my submission for my first ever challenge over on LJ.

The oxford traffic was a nightmare, again. And to top it off, it had started raining. Big fat drops of misery fell against the windshield, smearing the days grime before Robbie's eyes. He sighed and leaned forward to turn the radio up. A loud-mouthed woman was complaining agitatedly about the waiting lists in hospitals on the talk back channel. Robbie pushed a button and changed again, this time finding a station playing thudding dance music. He pulled a face, and spoke to himself, "What is this crap?" The third and final flick of the stations found a soothing piano piece. A contented sigh emerged from Robbie's lips and he relaxed into the seat. This was more like it. If he had to suffer through the pain of watching time pass by from the inside of his car, at least he could do it with a smooth soundtrack. 

The traffic was now completely stopped. Something up ahead was halting things and it didn't look like he was going to be moving any time soon. Robbie adjusted the volume, turning the radio up. He knew this piece. 'Claire de Lune' by Debussy. One of Morse's favourites, and one he had grown to like himself. He had spent nights listening to music with Val, her warmth against him as he stroked her hair and breathed in her familiar scent. But those days were long gone, and Val was never coming back. He had accepted that now. He was at peace with it. Mostly. 

His life had continued on after Val. It was true, just because his life felt as if it had been put on pause, the rest of the world kept on spinning. And after a while, when Robbie felt like he was starting to return to his old self, the world indeed did keep spinning, but never in quite the same way. There was always a dull ache. For so long, he had been one half of the pair that made a whole, and then, suddenly, he was just half. Half of what he had been. Half of whatever he might still become. 

The black grief that gathered within him like a migraine had started to fade a little. At first he felt guilty, like he was betraying Val's memory. How dare he not miss her so much? She had been his everything. Did it make him a bad husband that he missed her less? He certainly didn't love her any less, that just simply was not possible. People had said to him that he would be able to move on eventually. He didn't think he would ever be able to move on, but he had found a way to at least keep moving. Work. Lyn. Mark. Now there was Jack in his life too. The explosion of love he felt when he first held his grandson proved to him that his heart wasn't in fact completely broken. He was happy. Mostly. 

There were things that always managed to make him smile. Things that could pull him out of a hole when he felt himself slipping back down the drain of depression and anger. Pints with James. Takeaways and crap telly with his friend by his side. Come to think of it, most of the things that made him feel like his old self involved James. He had a way of making Robbie feel like he was welcome to be in a bad mood, to wallow in his pity and misery, just not to wallow alone. He smiled to himself as the music continued. No doubt James would be able to tell him all about the poem that inspired this piece of music as Morse had done many years before. Robbie couldn't remember the details of it now, but he knew there was a story. There always was. Everyone had a story, and even though Robbie's had a tragedy in the middle, he was feeling as if it might just be able to have a happy ending now.


End file.
